The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and humanitarian partners have called for urgent funding to support thousands of Ethiopian families who have fled violent clashes in their country and sought refuge in Kenya’s Moyale region.
According to IOM, approximately 50,000 people have crossed into Kenya since late October 2026, with many facing severe shortages of food, clean drinking water and adequate shelter.
IOM Kenya Chief of Mission Nomagugu Ncube warned that the growing humanitarian crisis was placing additional pressure on already struggling host communities.
“Families who fled are facing serious shortages of food, water and adequate shelter, while communities hosting them are already facing limited resources,” Ncube said.
A rapid assessment of 758 households conducted by Kenyan authorities with support from IOM, other United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations revealed alarming living conditions among the displaced families.
The assessment established that 71 per cent of households do not have enough food, while 80 per cent identified food as their most urgent need.
Access to clean water and sanitation has also emerged as a major challenge, with 44 per cent of households reporting insufficient access to drinking water. More than three-quarters of those surveyed also lacked handwashing facilities.
Healthcare remains another major concern, as more than half of the households reported difficulties accessing medical services, largely due to high costs and shortages of medicines.
IOM noted that more than half of the people arriving in Moyale are children, including a significant number below the age of five, raising concerns about their health and wellbeing amid deteriorating living conditions.
Most displaced families are currently staying with relatives and members of the host communities, further stretching the limited resources available in the area.
Others have sought shelter in schools and temporary settlement sites, while some have been forced to sleep outdoors.
The assessment further revealed that 96 per cent of the surveyed households had fled mainly from Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regions.
Additionally, nine out of every ten respondents reported that their entire villages had fled, underscoring the scale of displacement caused by the violence.
IOM and its partners are now appealing for urgent humanitarian assistance to provide food, safe drinking water, shelter, sanitation and healthcare to the affected families while supporting the communities hosting them.
